Securely collecting and processing medical imagery

ABSTRACT

A system for recording HIPAA compliant medical imagery may be configured using two separate systems. A first system comprising a separate and independent medical imaging device such as a microscope, an endoscope, or a similar medical imaging tool. The desired medical imaging tool is configured so that a high-definition recording device is able to capture the imagery displayed by the medical imaging tool. The separate and independent medical imaging device is further configured to transmit the high-definition captured imagery to a second separate and independent medical imagery processing system. The second separate and independent medical imagery processing system may be configured to include a special purpose computer with a processor, a hard drive, a random-access memory, and a removable encrypted flash drive. The processor may be configured, using well understood techniques, to process the high-definition imagery that is transmitted from the separate and independent medical imaging device. The processor may be further configured to store the processed data in an encrypted format only on a removable encrypted flash drive that is connected to the second separate and independent medical imagery processing system.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.62/321,723 filed Apr. 12, 2016, and entitled “COLLECTING AND PROCESSINGMEDICAL IMAGERY.” This application also claims priority to U.S.Non-provisional application Ser. No. 15/336,781 filed Oct. 27, 2016. Thecontent of this prior application is considered part of thisapplication, and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Field

The described technology generally relates to electronics and, morespecifically, to secure medical image collection and processing.

Description of the Related Art

Medical imaging systems traditionally lack the ability to securelyrecord and transmit data in an efficient manner. Additionally, highdefinition imagery is not available on current microscopy systems. Thislimits the adoption and efficacy of such important tools for the medicalpractice.

SUMMARY

The methods and devices of the described technology each have severalaspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for its desirableattributes.

In one embodiment, a microscope system is configured to record events inhigh definition. The microscope system is further configured to transmithigh definition video or images to a second system. The second systemcomprising a processor, memory, and one or more removable storagedevices. The second system further comprising video capture softwareconfigured to process and store the high definition video or images andone or more mobile devices configured to display the high definitionvideo or images.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These drawings and the associated description herein are provided toillustrate specific embodiments of this disclosure and are not intendedto be limiting. The above-mentioned aspects, as well as other features,aspects, and advantages of the present technology will now be describedin connection with various implementations, with reference to theaccompanying drawings. Throughout the drawings, similar symbolstypically identify similar components, unless context dictatesotherwise. Note that the relative dimensions of the following figuresmay not be drawn to scale.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating an example digital image collectionscheme according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing an example process for digital imageprinting according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing an example process for digital imagedisplay according to one embodiment.

FIG. 4 shows one embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various aspects of the novel systems, apparatuses, and methods aredescribed more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanyingdrawings. Aspects of this disclosure may, however, be embodied in manydifferent forms and should not be construed as limited to any specificstructure or function presented throughout this disclosure. Rather,these aspects are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough andcomplete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to thoseskilled in the art. Based on the teachings herein, one skilled in theart should appreciate that the scope of the disclosure is intended tocover any aspect of the novel systems, apparatuses, and methodsdisclosed herein, whether implemented independently of or combined withany other aspect. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or amethod may be practiced using any number of the aspects set forthherein. In addition, the scope is intended to encompass such anapparatus or method which is practiced using other structure,functionality, or structure and functionality in addition to or otherthan the various aspects set forth herein. It should be understood thatany aspect disclosed herein may be embodied by one or more elements of aclaim.

Although particular aspects are described herein, many variations andpermutations of these aspects fall within the scope of the disclosure.Although some benefits and advantages of the preferred aspects arementioned, the scope of the disclosure is not intended to be limited toparticular benefits, uses, or objectives. Rather, aspects of thedisclosure are intended to be broadly applicable to automotive systemsand/or different wired and wireless technologies, system configurations,networks, including optical networks, hard disks, and transmissionprotocols, some of which are illustrated by way of example in thefigures and in the following description of the preferred aspects. Thedetailed description and drawings are merely illustrative of thedisclosure rather than limiting, the scope of the disclosure beingdefined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

FIG. 1 exemplifies one embodiment of a process of capturing highdefinition video and/or imagery as further discussed below. An operator,who may be a medical professional such as a surgeon, generalpractitioner, nurse, aide, technician or otherwise qualified person mayuse a medical a HD enabled camera attached to a microscope to recordmedical imagery. It will be understood that it is not necessary to use amicroscope and any medical imagery device fitted with a HD enabledcamera may be used including a microscope, endoscope, sonogram,radiological imaging device, or other similar medical imagingtechnology. In one embodiment a microscope is configured with a highdefinition camera capable of capturing high definition video and/orimagery. High definition video is video that conforms to a standard ofno less than 720p, 1080i and 1080p. Additional high definition standardswhich have high resolution are contemplated. According to anotherembodiment, the microscope may be configured with a high definitioncamera that attaches to an eyepiece of the microscope. In a furtherembodiment, the microscope may be present a shared display with highdefinition, low definition, and analog signals each available for useand recording by an operator. Many embodiments know to those skilled inthe art are contemplated.

The recorded medical imagery The designated operator may be a qualifiedperson as described above or the designee of the qualified person. Thecommand to capture may be made by voice command, as disclosed in moredetail below. In other embodiments, the command to capture may made by aremote wireless device such as a Bluetooth mouse, IR devise, wirelesskeyboard, or WiFi connected device. Further, the command to capture maybe made be made by any one of a number of designated operators each ofwhich may be authorized with the authority to direct the capture of oneor more elements depending on their designated authority.

The command to capture of FIG. 1 may be directed to the capture ofindividual images, video imagery, audio imagery, 3D stereoscopic imagesor any combination of these. Images captured may be in jpeg, bmp, tiff,gif, or other digital imagery format. Video captured may be in mp4,HTML5, .avi, or other form known in the art. In some embodiments, thecapture of this data may further be stored in an encrypted format insome embodiments. HIPAA and electronic medical record data standards maybe implemented to optimize and secure the process by which data iscaptured. Where a HIPAA compliant encryption algorithm is required analgorithm selected from the Federal Information Processing Standards(FIPS) 140-2 Annex A or an equivalent is be used.

FIG. 1 further describes a process according to one embodiment where thedata discussed above may be automatically transferred, processed, andstored by the system disclosed further herein. The data may betransferred to an electronic storage system such as a computer filesystem, database, removable storage or computer memory. The data isstored with an automatically generated filename, which may be changed byan authorized operator. In some embodiments the data may be associatedwith similar data selected by the operator to form a combined data set.By way of example, video imagery of a surgery may be electronicallyassociated with a computer recording of a doctor's audio commentary.

In some embodiment's of the process set out in FIG. 1 the data isautomatically transferred to a local storage device. In anotherembodiment the data is transferred to a remote device over a securelink. The remote device may be another system similar to the systemdescribed herein. According to other embodiments, the data may betransferred to a mobile device such as a laptop, tablet, or mobiledevice. In other embodiments, data is transferred to a remote network ora remote system over a secure connection that complies with HIPAstandards. This remote network is a HIPA compliant system such as an EMRsystem or medical insurance associated system. In other embodiments, thetransfer of data may be commenced upon the command of an authorizeduser.

FIG. 2 exemplifies one embodiment of a process to print physicalpictures of the digital images and/or frames from digital videos asdescribed in more detail herein. An operator selects a file with medicalimagery 201. Medical imagery is displayed 202. The operator choosesspecific medical images from the displayed medical imagery 203. Thechosen images are preprocessed for optimal print resolution and resourceuse 204.

In some embodiments the operator is an authorized user who has accessedthe system 200 shown in FIG. 2 by using personal credentials. Theoperator may select a file with medical imagery 201 using GUIapplication on a computer screen. The GUI is configured to operatecomputer code that opens the file and presents the authorized operatorwith a selection of medical imagery as described in step 202. Thesemedical images in some embodiments are represented as thumbnails ofdigital images and/or video. In other embodiments these medical imagesmay be combined rich data with audio, metadata, medical notes, and otherdata combined with a digital image or video in order to providemedically relevant information to those with access to that digitalfile. An operator may select one or more of the thumbnails. The user maythen chose to add text that will be printed alongside the selectedthumbnails.

As further presented in one embodiment of FIG. 2, an authorized user mayselect an option to print one or more of the selected thumbnails asdescribed in step 203. In one embodiment of step 204 software code thatoptimizes the number of pages used to print the desired thumbnails andany associated text is then run. This software code uses well understoodtechniques to configure a printer to print in either landscape orportrait mode. Additionally, the software code may attempt to correlatea desired resolution selected by a user and the resolution capabilitiesof the printer used. This information is used to optimize the number ofimages printed on each sheet of paper. In a further embodiment, a useris prompted to input one or more of the inputs described above before aprint command is accepted by the computer.

In some embodiments of FIG. 2, additional elements, drivers, sensors,chips, or modules, such as a memory storage device (random-accessmemory, read-only memory, flash memory, or solid state storage (SSD)),not expressly illustrated in FIG. 2. It is to be noted that all or partsof the steps in FIG. 2 may be concurrently, continuously, periodically,intermittently, repeatedly, or iteratively performed, and theillustrated process in FIG. 2 is only one example embodiment of thefeatures disclosed herein.

FIG. 3 exemplifies one embodiment of a process to show digital images orvideo to patients. Merely by way of example, the following steps may beused in an embodiment of this process. An operator unmounts a drive thatcontains encrypted medical imagery 301. In some embodiments this drivemay be further secured by a process that conceals the patient'spersonally identifiable information. Next the operator connects thedrive containing encrypted medical imagery to a mobile device 302. Inone embodiment the mobile device may be a tablet, cell phone, or laptopcomputer. The operator then enters a password into the mobile device303. The password may in some embodiments be an alpha numeric comprisingone or more of a string of letters, numbers and/or special characters.The password may also be a biometric reference such as a fingerprint,voice print, facial recognition, or retinal scan. The encrypted medicalimages are then decrypted and displayed on the mobile device 304. Insome embodiments only a certain subsection of the medical images aredecrypted.

The drive containing medical imagery of 301 and 302 may be a removabledevice loaded with digital images, video, and/or audio. In step 302 suchremovable device may be unmounted in step 301 either by an automaticprocess or manually by an operator. The removable device may then bephysically removed from it's first location and physically loaded unto amobile device second location such as a mobile device or tablet. Themobile device or tablet may run auto configuration software that detectsthe loading of a removable device. The auto configurations software mayfurther detect the presence of one or more digital images, videos,and/or audio. The auto configuration software may presents a user withthe option of either displaying desired content on the portable secondlocation or transmitting that desired content to a larger display via acabled connection or wireless technologies as further disclosed herein.

In some embodiments of FIG. 3, additional elements, drivers, sensors,chips, or modules, such as a memory storage device (random-accessmemory, read-only memory, flash memory, or solid state storage (SSD)),not expressly illustrated in FIG. 3. It is to be noted that all or partsof the steps in FIG. 3 may be concurrently, continuously, periodically,intermittently, repeatedly, or iteratively performed, and theillustrated process in FIG. 3 is only one example embodiment of thefeatures disclosed herein.

FIG. 4 shows one exemplary embodiment of a system that implements thedisclosed invention 400 may comprise a specially configured computer401, a color printer 402, a removable read-write digital memory device403, a separate voice recognition device 404, a mobile transport device405 configured to house the specially configured computer 401, the colorprinter 402, the removable read-write digital memory device 403, and theseparate voice recognition device 404. The individual elements of suchan embodiment will be discussed in more detail below.

One exemplary specially configured computer 401 of the system thatimplements the disclosed invention 400 may be configured with a with abuilt in Quick Sync Video processor or other form of built in graphicsprocessing capable of processing HD content including h.264 encoding.Further the specially configured computer may be configured to accept awith a removable read-write digital memory device 403. The speciallyconfigured may additionally be configured to securely encrypt data usinghardware acceleration or specially configured encryption software. Insome embodiments, such specially configured software may be configuredto encrypts one or more segments of data automatically, without any userintervention.

The color printer 402 may be configured to print color photos from thespecially configured computer 401. Color printer 402 may be connected tospecially configured computer 401 using a wireless encrypted connection.In some embodiments, color printer 402 may be further configured toprint both black and white images, color prints, and color photos, wherecolor photos differ from color prints by the use of either glossy printpaper and or image resolution defined by dots for inch or a similarmechanism.

The removable read-write digital memory device 403, may be a compactflash card, secure digital card, memory stick, solid state memory (SSD)or removable hard drive. In some embodiments the read-write digitalmemory device 403 may be configured so that it contains one or morelogical partitions for storage. In some embodiments, there may be morethan one logical partition with each partition encrypted with a separatekey. In other embodiments the data no the removable read-write digitalmemory device 403 may be encrypted distinct from any encryption that isalready formatted onto any logical partition.

The separate voice recognition device 404 may in some embodiments be aphysically separate device from the specially configured computer 401.In one embodiment the separate voice recognition device 404 may be anAmazon Echo or Amazon Dot. In another embodiment the separate voicerecognition device 404 may be a specially programmed device with a voicerecognition library that is optimized for medical terminology. In otherembodiments the separate voice recognition device 404 is configured sothat is may be trained by an end user to recognize the particular speechpatterns of an end user.

A mobile transport device 405 is prepared to transport the speciallyconfigured the specially configured computer 401, the color printer 402,the removable read-write digital memory device 403, and the separatevoice recognition device 404. In one embodiment the mobile transportdevice 405 is configured with an uninterruptable power supply to providepower to one or more electronic components. Further network connectionequipment including a wired or wireless router, modem, and one or morenetwork switch may also be installed on the mobile transport device 405.

It will be further understood that FIG. 4 illustrates an aspect of adevice or system which may perform the image collection and processingas described in relation to FIG. 1, and thus may be one implementationof the user system described herein. The system contains a device, thatdevice being an example of a computing or processing device that mayimplement at least parts of the various methods described herein. Thedevice may include a processor which controls operation of the device.The processor may also be referred to in some embodiments as a centralprocessing unit (CPU). The processor may comprise or be a component of aprocessing system implemented with one or more processors. The one ormore processors may be implemented with any combination ofgeneral-purpose microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signalprocessors (DSPs), field programmable gate array (FPGAs), programmablelogic devices (PLDs), controllers, state machines, gated logic, discretehardware components, dedicated hardware finite state machines, graphicsprocessor units (GPUs), or any other suitable entities that can performcalculations or other manipulations of information.

In some embodiments, the processor may be configured to identify andprocess images received from the image and location database. Processingthe images may comprise analyzing the image to identify objects and/oropen spaces or regions within the image. In some embodiments, theprocessor may only analyze pre-processed images.

Memory which may include both read-only memory (ROM) and random accessmemory (RAM), may provide instructions and data to the processor. Aportion of the memory may also include non-volatile random access memory(NVRAM). The processor typically performs logical and arithmeticoperations based on program instructions stored within the memory. Theinstructions in the memory may be executable to implement the methodsdescribed herein. The memory may also comprise machine-readable media.

In some embodiments, the memory may temporarily or permanently storereceived and/or processed images. For example, a high definition medicalimage and corresponding audio commentary may be stored in the memorysuch that selection of an point of interest (POI) designated by anoperator or the device is associated with a particular image of thememory. In some embodiments, the memory may also comprise memory usedwhile the received images are being processed. For example, a requestedimage may be stored in the memory in advance of the operator's selectionof a point of interest or address associated with the image.

In some embodiments, the memory may temporarily or permanently storereceived and/or processed high definition video. For example, a highdefinition video of a selection from a medical procedure andcorresponding audio commentary may be stored in the memory such thatselection of a point of interest (POI) designated by an operator or thedevice is associated with a particular image of the memory. In someembodiments, the memory may also comprise memory used while the receivedthe high definition video or audio commentary associated with the POI isbeing processed. For example, a requested video may be stored in thememory in advance of the operator's selection of a POI or addressassociated with the video.

The processing system may also include machine-readable media forstoring software. Software shall be construed broadly to mean any typeof instructions, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware,microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. Instructions mayinclude code (e.g., in source code format, binary code format,executable code format, or any other suitable format of code). Theinstructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause theprocessing system to perform the various functions described herein.Accordingly, the processing system may include, e.g., hardware,firmware, and software, or any combination therein.

Microphone may include any structure configured to capture audio andgenerate audio signals. As depicted in FIG. 4, microphone may becentrally located on the system to capture audio and may be configuredto capture voice commands from the operator to direct the actions of thesystem without risking contamination by touching a component that is notsterile. Alternatively, microphone may be worn by the operator or placedin a location where optimal audio capture may be achieved. Microphonemay also be configured capture audio which may be transcribed into textutilizing voice to text processing software.

The user interface may be configured to receive input from the user andtransmit media. User interface may include an LCD, an LED, a plasmadisplay, or any other type of display. User interface may provide aGraphical User Interface (GUI) presented on the display for user inputand data display. User interface may further include a touchscreen, akeyboard, a mouse, or a tracker ball to enable user input. Userinterface may be configured to receive user-defined settings.

The system may also include a housing that may include a transmitterand/or a receiver to allow transmission and reception of data betweenthe device and a remote location or device. The transmitter and receivermay be combined into a transceiver. An antenna may be attached to thehousing and electrically coupled to the transceiver (or individually tothe transmitter and the receiver) to allow for communication between thedevice and external devices. The device may also include (not shown)multiple transmitters, multiple receivers, and/or multiple transceivers.

The transmitter (or transmitter portion of the transceiver) can beconfigured to wirelessly transmit messages. The processor may processmessages and data to be transmitted via the transmitter. The transmittedinformation may comprise location coordinates or points of interest(user selected or processor identified) that may identify medical highdefinition images, video, and/or audio requested by the device from thesecure image, video and/or audio database. The transmitter may alsotransmit information generated by the processor or the operator, such asgenerated boundaries or specifically noted information regarding aspecific item noted by an operator (e.g., a particular structure ofinterest or other medically significant element). Such transmissions bythe transmitter may allow generated information to be shared betweenother users of the system or other operators, medical professionals,patients, medical billing agents, insurance companies, etc. In someembodiments, the high definition video, images, and/or audio may bestored locally such that the transmitter is not involved incommunicating user entered address or POI information in a request for ahigh definition video, image, and/or audio.

The receiver (or the receiver portion of the transceiver) can beconfigured to wirelessly receive messages. The processor may furtherprocess messages and data received via the receiver. In someembodiments, the receiver may receive the images from one of the imagelocation database or the camera (or the centralized system controller ordatabase or another user). Accordingly, the images received may beeither processed or unprocessed. When the high definition images and/orvideo is received are received having been processed, then the highdefinition images and/or video may be sent directly to the processor foranalysis.

The various components of the device may be coupled together by a bussystem. The bus system may include a data bus, for example, as well as apower bus, a control signal bus, and a status signal bus in addition tothe data bus. Those of skill in the art will appreciate that thecomponents of the device may be coupled together or accept or provideinputs to each other using some other mechanism.

The various components of the system may be coupled together by acomputer network system. The computer network may be any type of wiredor wireless network that may allow transmitting and receiving data. Forexample, network may be a nationwide cellular network, a local wirelessnetwork (e.g., Bluetooth™ or WiFi, Near Field Communication 'NFC.), or awired network. Mobile communication devices and/or third party devicemay also be configured to transmit secure medical data using formats andprotocols that comply with HIPPA and other data security protocols aslater discussed in detail.

The present disclosed system additionally includes security features notfound in any other medical video recording system out in the market. Thedisclosed separate medical imaging processing system consists of thecart which may contain at least: a computer, mouse, monitor, printer,music system, and equipment used for video recording. In will beunderstood that all patient medical records are covered strictgovernment policies ensuring patient privacy. One such set of governmentpolicies is found in the U.S. Health Information Portability and PrivacyAct. (HIPPA) The patient data privacy requirements of this act are oneof the driving features for the present disclosure.

In some implementations a medical imaging system is configured with acamera or digital recording device that is configured to send securevideo signal to a separate medical imaging processing system in such away that there is no identifiable patient information. In oneembodiment, the digital recording device is a camera that transmitshigh-definition video. High-definition video may in some implementationshave at least 921,600 pixels per image. In other implementations,high-definition video may have more than 3,000,000 pixels per image andin some implementations, high-definition video may have 33,177,600pixels per image.

It will be readily understood that the most dangerous part of any secureprocess is the final resting place of the data. In a traditionalrecording system, the images, data, and patient information a stored onthe recording equipment which contains a storage device. If a theftoccurs, it is possible that all data in regards to all patientencounters can become compromised. A point of uniqueness in the currentdisclosure is that all information transmitted by the medical imagingsystem may be encrypted and secure throughout the process. No patientinformation is stored in the separate medical imaging processing system.All final resting places of the data reside in secure removable mediathat can be used in standard computing environments requiring notechnical skills or additional complex processes to manipulate and storethe data.

If the data from the separate medical imaging processing system, is lostor stolen, the previously mentioned secure storage ensures securitycompliance due to its encryption. The data stored in the separatemedical imaging processing system, once it has been transported, can bemanipulated and stored in accordance to local IT policies andprocedures. Patient security and compliance is not the responsibility ofthe location of where the separate medical imaging processing system islocated.

In one embodiment a system for recording HIPAA compliant medical imagerymay be configured using two separate systems. A first system comprisinga separate and independent medical imaging device such as a microscope,an endoscope, or a similar medical imaging tool. The desired medicalimaging tool is configured so that a high-definition recording device isable to capture the imagery displayed by the medical imaging tool. Theseparate and independent medical imaging device is further configured totransmit the high-definition captured imagery to a second separate andindependent medical imagery processing system.

The second separate and independent medical imagery processing systemmay be configured to include a special purpose computer with at least aprocessor, a hard drive, a random-access memory, and a removableencrypted flash drive. The processor may be configured, using wellunderstood techniques, to process the high-definition imagery that istransmitted from the separate and independent medical imaging device.The processor may be further configured to store the processed data inan encrypted format only on a removable encrypted flash drive that isconnected to the second separate and independent medical imageryprocessing system.

In some embodiments the removable encrypted flash drive that isconnected to the second separate and independent medical imageryprocessing system is encrypted using an algorithm selected from FIPS140-2 Annex A. The FIPS 140-2 Annex A is a routinely updated list ofsecure encryption algorithms that can be used to protect sensitive datafor uses such as HIPPA compliance. The Advanced Encryption Standard(AES), Triple-DES Encryption Algorithm (TDEA), and Asymmetric Key(DSS-DSA, RSA and ECDSA) are commonly used FIPS 140-2 Annex A algorithmsfor encrypting data. It will be understood that other similar encryptionalgorithms, whether or not they are included in the FIPS 140-2 Annex A,may be used as well.

In some embodiment a mobile device such as a tablet, a smart phone, or alaptop computer may be configured to accept the removable encryptedflash drive and decrypt its contents. Access to the encrypted content onthe removable encrypted flash drive may require a key. In someembodiments, this key may be a password or a passphrase. In otherembodiments, a biometric access key may be provided by using biometricsecurity systems such as a fingerprint recognition device, a facialrecognition sensor system, or a voice recognition system. It will beunderstood that other well-known device authentication systems may beused to provide a key to decrypt the removable encrypted flash drive.

Although a number of separate components are discussed above those ofskill in the art will recognize that one or more of the components maybe combined or commonly implemented. For example, the processor may beused to implement not only the functionality described above withrespect to the processor, but also to implement the functionalitydescribed above w the image processor. Further, each of the componentsdisclosed herein may be implemented using a plurality of separateelements.

As used herein, the term “determining” encompasses a wide variety ofactions. For example, “determining” may include calculating, computing,processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in atable, a database or another data structure), ascertaining and the like.Also, “determining” may include receiving (e.g., receiving information),accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory) and the like. Also,“determining” may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishingand the like. Further, a “channel width” as used herein may encompass ormay also be referred to as a bandwidth in certain aspects.

The various operations of methods described above may be performed byany suitable means capable of performing the operations, such as varioushardware and/or software component(s), circuits, and/or module(s).Generally, any operations illustrated in the Figures may be performed bycorresponding functional means capable of performing the operations.

The technology is operational with numerous other general purpose orspecial purpose computing system environments or configurations.Examples of well-known computing systems, environments, and/orconfigurations that may be suitable for use with the developmentinclude, but are not limited to, personal computers, server computers,hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems,microprocessor-based systems, programmable consumer electronics, networkPCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computingenvironments that include any of the above systems or devices, and thelike.

A processor may be any conventional general purpose single- ormulti-chip microprocessor such as a Pentium® processor, a Pentium® Proprocessor, a 8051 processor, a MIPS® processor, a Power PC® processor,or an Alpha® processor. In addition, the microprocessor may be anyconventional special purpose microprocessor such as a digital signalprocessor or a graphics processor. The microprocessor typically hasconventional address lines, conventional data lines, and one or moreconventional control lines.

The system may be used in connection with various operating systems suchas Linux®, UNIX® or Microsoft Windows®. The system control may bewritten in any conventional programming language such as C, C++, BASIC,Pascal, or Java, and ran under a conventional operating system. C, C++,BASIC, Pascal, Java, and FORTRAN are industry standard programminglanguages for which many commercial compilers can be used to createexecutable code. The system control may also be written usinginterpreted languages such as Perl, Python or Ruby.

Those of skill will further recognize that the various illustrativelogical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described inconnection with the implementations disclosed herein may be implementedas electronic hardware, software stored on a computer readable mediumand executable by a processor, or combinations of both. To clearlyillustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, variousillustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have beendescribed above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether suchfunctionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon theparticular application and design constraints imposed on the overallsystem. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality invarying ways for each particular application, but such implementationdecisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from thescope of the present development.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits describedin connection with the implementations disclosed herein may beimplemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digitalsignal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmablelogic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardwarecomponents, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functionsdescribed herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor,but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microproc an introducedclaim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recitedin the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent ispresent. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appendedclaims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and“one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of suchphrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of aclaim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits anyparticular claim containing such introduced claim recitation toimplementations containing only one such recitation, even when the sameclaim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one”and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an”should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one ormore”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used tointroduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number ofan introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled inthe art will recognize that such recitation should typically beinterpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the barerecitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typicallymeans at least two recitations, or two or more recitations).Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “atleast one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a constructionis intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understandthe convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C”would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone,C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A,B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a conventionanalogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general sucha construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the artwould understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one ofA, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have Aalone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and Ctogether, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be furtherunderstood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive wordand/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in thedescription, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplatethe possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, orboth terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood toinclude the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”

All numbers expressing quantities of ingredients, reaction conditions,and so forth used in the specification and claims are to be understoodas being modified in all instances by the term “about.” Accordingly,unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth inthe specification and attached claims are approximations that may varydepending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by thepresent development. At the very least, and not as an attempt to limitthe application of the doctrine of equivalents to the scope of theclaims, each numerical parameter should be construed in light of thenumber of significant digits and ordinary rounding approaches.

The methods disclosed herein comprise one or more steps or actions forachieving the described method. The method steps and/or actions may beinterchanged with one another without departing from the scope of theclaims. In other words, unless a specific order of steps or actions isrequired for proper operation of the method that is being described, theorder and/or use of specific steps and/or actions may be modifiedwithout departing from the scope of the claims.

It should be noted that the terms “couple,” “coupling,” “coupled” orother variations of the word couple as used herein may indicate eitheran indirect connection or a direct connection. For example, if a firstcomponent is “coupled” to a second component, the first component may beeither indirectly connected to the second component or directlyconnected to the second component. As used herein, the term “plurality”denotes two or more. For example, a plurality of components indicatestwo or more components.

It is also noted that the examples may be described as a process, whichis depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a finite state diagram, astructure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describethe operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can beperformed in parallel, or concurrently, and the process can be repeated.In addition, the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A processis terminated when its operations are completed. A process maycorrespond to a method, a function, a procedure, a subroutine, asubprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a software function, itstermination corresponds to a return of the function to the callingfunction or the main function.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for recording HIPAA compliant medicalimagery comprising: a first medical imaging system comprising a medicalimaging device; the first medical imaging system configured to captureimagery and transmit that imagery to a medical imagery processingsystem; the medical imaging processing system comprising: a specialpurpose computer; the special purpose computer comprising: a processor,a hard drive, a random access memory, and; a removable encrypted flashdrive; wherein the processor is configured to process the imagery fromthe first medical imaging system and store the imagery only on theremovable encrypted flash drive.
 2. The system for recording HIPAAcompliant medical imagery of claim 1, wherein the removable encryptedflash drive is encrypted using an algorithm selected from FIPS 140-2Annex A;
 3. The system for recording HIPAA compliant medical imageryclaim 2, wherein the removable encrypted flash drive is configured suchthat it can be inserted into a preconfigured slot located in a mobiledevice; the mobile device configured to contain the removable encryptedflash drive without altering the exterior shape of the mobile device. 4.The mobile device of claim 3, wherein the mobile device is configured todecrypt the contents of the removable encrypted flash drive through useof a biometric access key.
 4. The system for recording HIPAA compliantmedical imagery of claim 1, wherein the first medical imaging system isconfigured to transmit imagery to the medical imagery processing systemover a wireless communication network; the wireless communicationnetwork comprising: at least one wireless network card installed on thefirst medical imaging system; at least one wireless network cardinstalled on the medical imagery processing system;
 5. The wirelessnetwork of claim 4, wherein the wireless network is uses the IEEE 802.1xcompliant authentication; and the wireless network is FIPS 140-2compliant.
 6. The system for recording HIPAA compliant medical imageryof claim 1 wherein the first medical imaging system comprises at leastone microscope.
 7. The system for recording HIPAA compliant medicalimagery of claim 1 wherein the first medical imaging system comprises atleast one endoscope.
 8. The system for recording HIPAA compliant medicalimagery of claim 1 wherein the first medical imaging system isconfigured to accept different medical imagery collection devices. 9.The medical imaging processing system of claim 1, further comprising: aseparate dedicated video processing unit; the separate dedicated videoprocessing unit configured to have at least one unique processor. 10.The removable encrypted flash drive of claim 1, further comprising: aplurality of logical partitions; at least one of the plurality oflogical partitions encrypted with an algorithm selected from FIPS 140-2Annex A.
 11. A method of capturing high definition medical imagerycomprising: obtaining medical imagery using a first medical imagingsystem comprising a microscope and a high definition camera;transmitting the obtained medical imagery from the first medical imagingsystem to a medical imaging processing system; processing the obtainedmedical imagery on the medical imagery processing system; the processingof the obtained medical comprising: acquiring medical imagery from thefirst medical imaging system; writing the acquired medical imagery ontoa removable encrypted flash drive.
 12. The method of capturing highdefinition surgical imagery of claim 11, wherein the removable encryptedflash drive is removed from the medical imaging processing system; theremovable encrypted flash drive is inserted into a preconfigured slotlocated within a mobile device; and wherein the mobile device isconfigured to contain the removable encrypted flash drive withoutaltering the exterior shape of the mobile device.
 13. The method ofcapturing high definition medical imagery of claim 11, wherein thesecond medical imaging processing system further comprises: a separatededicated video processing unit.
 14. The method capturing highdefinition medical imagery of claim 11, wherein the removable encryptedflash drive is encrypted using an algorithm selected from PIPS 140-2Annex A.
 16. The mobile device of claim 12, wherein the mobile device isconfigured to decrypt the contents of the removable encrypted flashdrive through use of a biometric access key.
 17. The method capturinghigh definition medical imagery of claim 12, wherein the medical imagingprocessing system may be controlled by voice commands; wherein the voicecommand are processed by a unique specially configured processor. 18.The method capturing high definition surgical imagery of claim 11,wherein the separate removable read-write encrypted digital memory ofclaim 1, further comprises: a plurality of logical partitions; at leastone of the plurality of logical partitions encrypted with an algorithmselected from FIPS 140-2 Annex A.
 19. The method capturing highdefinition surgical imagery of claim 11, wherein the first medicalimaging system and the medical imaging processing system are bothconnected to the same isolated wireless network.
 20. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed,cause one or more processors to perform a method of transferring datafrom a communication device located on a first medical imaging system toa secure encrypted flash drive, the method comprising: receiving realtime high definition imagery or video on a first medical imaging system;transmitting the high definition imagery or video to medical imageryprocessing system; and transferring at least one of the real time highdefinition imagery or video from the medical imagery processing systemto a removable secure encrypted flash drive.